Breathing is an essential process that, apparently, does not need to be learnt, or does it?
On average, a person breathes about 10,000 to 12,000 litres of air in a day. This air, however clean it may be, contains suspended particles such as dust, bacteria, viruses or fungal spores. Why the nose and not the mouth? The mouth is primarily the entrance for food, both solids and liquids. Its mucosa is otherwise specialised and lacks air-filtering cilia. In addition, air entering through the nose stays warmer and repels germs.
AND IF THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH, mouth breathing can change the arrangement of facial bones in children. According to a scientific review based on meta-analyses, mouth breathing causes changes in the development of facial bones and malocclusion (the mouth does not close properly due to misalignment of the teeth) in children.
The problem is that closing the mouth incorrectly causes problems with the chewing muscle, the neck and even headaches in adults.
More than half of 12-year-olds suffer from mild to severe malocclusion, reported the 2020 oral health survey conducted by the Journal of the Illustrious General Council of Colleges of Dentists and Stomatologists of Spain.
That is why we always repeat that early intervention is the right thing to do, the earlier the better. And why?
* By the age of 4 years a child has developed the 60% of the adult craniofacial skeleton.
* By the age of 7 years, most of the nasomaxillary growth is complete.
* By the age of 12 years, 90% of facial growth has already occurred.
Do you still think it's better to wait?
